GREEN GODDESS WEDGE SALAD (original dressing recipe, about 4 cups)

The Gourmet Cookbook reports that “three English travelers whose plane has crashed in the mountains of the fictional Asian kingdom of Rukh are taken hostage by the rajah.  His subjects believe that the Green Goddess has sent these unlucky three to take the place of his three brothers, who are about to be executed in India by the British.  Will the hostages be rescued?  Will the beautiful Englishwoman spurn the rajah’s advances?  Will the butler save the day or be hurled to his death?  The Green Goddess, a melodrama written by the Scottish drama critic and playwright William Archer in 1920, starred the great British actor George Arliss as the rajah.  During the play’s run in San Francisco, Arliss stayed at the Palace Hotel, and the chef “ (Philip Roemer, at the Palm Court Restaurant) “there created this creamy, green-hued dressing in his honor.”

For the dressing:

10 fillets of anchovy, finely cut

1 green onion, finely sliced

½ cup chopped parsley

2 tablespoons finely cut tarragon

¼ cup finely cut chives

3 cups mayonnaise flavored with 2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar

For the salad:

1 head iceberg lettuce, cored and quartered

¼ English cucumber, halved and thinly sliced

4 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal

6 to 8 thin asparagus stalks, steamed and cut into 2 inch lengths

a handful of parsley leaves

a handful of watercress leaves

a handful of chives, cut into 2 inch lengths

2 to 3 tablespoons minced tarragon leaves

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1.  Make the green goddess dressing:  Combine all of the dressing ingredients.  Let stand to mellow at least an hour before using (Dressing will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a week.  It is very good for all seafood and fish dishes, in addition to salad.)

2.  Assemble the salad:  Divide the iceberg quarters among four plates, spoon the dressing on top and garnish with the remaining salad ingredients.

NOTE:  If you would prefer a tossed salad to a wedge, Beard suggests breaking a medium head of romaine, a medium head of Boston lettuce and half of a medium bunch of chicory into a salad bowl and tossing it with about 1 cup of dressing.  Add more dressing if you think the salad needs it; Beard notes that “the flavor of the dressing should not overpower that of the greens, but the salad shouldn’t be anemic either.”

adapted from James Beard, American Cookery